Sharing Korean medical insurance know-how with world 아프리카에 싹트는 한국형 건강보험

Korea is one of the few countries in the world that offers universal health insurance to its people, and it took just 12 years to provide it Now, it is sharing its expertise with African countries that are in urgent need of a better health care system Kim Min-ji has more This Ethiopian farmer has been suffering from diabetes for six years He spent over 50 U S dollars a month in visits to the doctor and buying medicine, equivalent to nearly half of his income "I couldn′t send my child to school, or else I couldn′t get insulin injections " But now, he is one of the lucky few to get free medical treatment as his town was included in a medical insurance pilot project implemented recently Still, there is a lot to be done since the beneficiaries account for only 7 percent of Ethiopia′s entire population The nation′s average life expectancy stands at just 59 years, with the mortality rate for children under the age of 5 at nine percent The Ethiopian government, seeking to change the health care sector, chose Korea as its role model "You cover all the population under insurance, social security and the other thing is you achieved that in only 12 years This is exceptional for Korea because I know Germany took 130 years " Experts say the move is beneficial for both Korea and Ethiopia Korea can upgrade the global status of its medical system while educating and training medical teams in Africa "Korean health officials and technicians are sharing their knowledge with local medical teams We believe that will affect their medical policy system in the long run, without the need to invest much money " Moreover, the move is expected to lead the adoption of a Korean computing and hospital construction system and medical devices, bringing along economic benefits in the near future Kim Min-ji, Arirang News